Ex-UP Law dean Raul Pangalangan retires from ICC

Filipino lawyer Raul Cano Pangalangan has retired as one of the 18 judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“It has been a distinct honor for me as a Filipino to have taken part in its noble work. Much remains to be done, and I am confident that the next generation of ICC advocates will continue to keep the dream alive,” he said.

Former #ICC judge Raul Cano Pangalangan reflecting on his mandate ?? pic.twitter.com/M9hEPEDMm6

— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) May 28, 2021

Pangalangan continued in office until May 16 to finish ongoing proceedings, according to the Hague-based independent court.

The former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law was sworn in as a judge for the ICC on July 13, 2015.

According to the ICC, he was elected judge with 59 votes to 25 the thirteenth session of the Assembly of States Parties in 2015.

Pangalangan filled in the position vacated by the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago who stepped down from her post due to health reasons.

Pangalangan was a Philippine Delegate in the drafting of the Rome Statute, which established the ICC and co-chaired the national campaign for ratification by the Philippines and other Asia-Pacific states.

He has been a member of the Philippine Bar since 1984. He has argued before the Philippine Supreme Court and has been designated as amicus curiae in leading constitutional law and international law cases.

Pangalangan studied at Harvard where he received his LL.M. (winning the Laylin Prize in international law) and S.J.D (winning the Sumner Prize for best dissertation on international peace). He holds the Diplo?me of The Hague Academy of International Law.

He sits in the governing councils of the Asian Society of International Law and, until 2014, the International Association of Constitutional Law. He sits in the boards of various academic journals.

Dubbed as the "court of last resort," the ICC tries four types of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and war crimes.  However, it is not intended to replace a national justice system.

In 2018, the Philippines became the second country in the world to withdraw from the ICC, just as the court announced that it was conducting preliminary investigation on a complaint filed  to look into the Duterte administration's bloody war on drugs.—Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA News